ID fraud is an easy way for criminals to steal money, according to a leading credit report agency.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said: "It takes a lot more activity and risk to break into somebody's house than probably to break into a bank."
"You can send somebody an email and convince them to give you their bank account details so you can go into the account as them."
He said the criminals had recognised the ease with which they could use email and the internet to obtain sensitive financial information from people and use it to access bank accounts, take out fraudulent loans or extend credit.
In May, Experian reported the number of fraud cases they dealt with in 2007 had increased by two-thirds on 2006 figures.
More than 6,000 people approached Experian's fraud team for help last year and according to research carried out by the firm, Londoners were almost twice as likely to become victims of identity theft.
The government has claimed ID cards would stem the growth of identity theft, but leading campaigners disagree saying they would just add to the problem.
The Inquirer reported in 2006 that a German security consultant managed to hack into and copy data from a national ID card in two weeks with £105 worth of equipment.
